Chutes have long been used to transport materials from one location to another. The location at which a chute originates is typically uphill from the location at which the chute ends, or the chute's destination. This arrangement, along with a relatively smooth transport surface, allows for materials to be transported along the chute under force of gravity.
Among other purposes, chutes have been used to transport rock from mines. As rocks are typically dense and hard, they may dent a chute as they are introduced into the chute. The rough surfaces that are typically present on rocks that have been removed from a mine scratch and scrape away at the surface of a chute as gravity pulls them down the length of the chute. As a consequence, without some sort of protection, rock chutes wear very quickly.
In an effort to extend the useful lives of rock chutes and, thus, to avoid the expenses that would otherwise be associated with frequently replacing rock chutes, systems for lining rock chutes have been developed. In these systems, liners bear the majority of the impact and damage as rocks are transported along the length of a rock chute. Worn or damaged liners may periodically be removed from a chute and replaced with new liners. The cost of replacing liners is much less than the cost of replacing a rock chute.
The liners for many rock chutes consist of metal tiles that line the surfaces of the chute. There are a wide variety of techniques for securing the liners to the chute, but each rock chute is typically designed to receive liners in only one specific way. For example, a rock chute may include holes through which bolts may be positioned to engage complementary threading in the back side of a particular type and size of liner. Other chutes may include holes that are arranged to receive liners of a different size. Still other chutes may lack holes altogether, with solid liners instead being welded to the transport surfaces of the chutes. Thus, a liner that is designed to be coupled to a rock chute with a corresponding liner engagement system will not couple to a rock chute with a different liner engagement system. At some locations, rock chutes with a variety of liner engagement systems may be used, making liner replacement a difficult process.